No sewing, but I'm making progress!

I spent most of the afternoon yesterday clearing stuff out of DD#1's old room (my future sewing room!). I also decided which fabric to use for one of my classes at this year's guild quilt-in. The class is a stack n whack Leymoine Star. I've done a s&w Dresden Plate, and an s&w Grandmother's Fan (still a ufo)... they both look nice, but I'm not all that fond of applique'ing these onto a base block. I think I'll like the star better. I also decided which direction I'm headed in in picking fabrics for the Minnesnowta project (lots of pastel-y florals), and I started to pull greens for the Sew n' Sews project.
I got more stuff straightened out today; hopefully this weekend we can pull up the old carpeting and get prepped to have the laminate flooring installed. Maybe I can get the trim around the windows and doorways painted, too.

Round Robin blocks finished

I'm so proud of myself; I didn't wait 'til two days before we pass on our round robin boxes to do the blocks! I can't post pics of the blocks, because the group has access to this blog, and I don't want to spoil the fun! I made four blocks instead of three this time because we'd lost a participant, but another friend has joined the group, so I'll probably do three from now on. I made a little block from scraps from this first box. I'm going to make a scrap block from each box and use them in the backing for my quilt.

Julie's YBR

It's been forever since I've posted... I was in Charlotte, NC for most of last week for a Women of Faith Leadership seminar. I was there as a volunteer, so I got to attend the sessions for free. There were sessions on communication, event planning, health, counseling..... I'm not in any active position at our church (we're fairly new members), but all the info I gathered was useful, even for somebody not in active ministry. The best part, however, was that I was there with two friends who are also quilters! We took Nancy (who's from Minnesnowta) to Mary Jo's Cloth Store, which is always a treat! I was a good girl; only got two panels (one of cats, and one of fairies) and an oriental print on clearance. The WOF seminar was over by noon on Friday, so we spent Friday afternoon working on our projects; Nancy worked on the binding a a beatiful YBR, Debbie cut more hearts for a Mended Hearts quilt, and I finally sewed together the rows for a pastel YBR for my niece, Julie. I was going to give her a YBR made from brights til she told me her favorite color is white, and her second favorite is beige!!! I figure that the pastel will be a little less startling, and she may be able to sleep under it! The picture isn't very good, besides the fact that it's sideways... the colors are very soft and soothing in real life.
While I was in Charlotte I also got to spend a little time with my friend Robin, and she's going to join Debbie and me on our trip to Nancy's in Minnesnowta next month!!! She was able to get a ticket on the same flight as Debbie out of Charlotte, and I will be flying from Washington, D.C. I arrive about 45 minutes ahead of them, so Nancy won't have to wait too long for all of us to arrive. We're going to do Minnesota Hotdish for our project that weekend. I think I'll be able to pull from stash for that one, but I haven't decided if I like the pinwheel or chain version better... might have to do them both!!

Happy Birthday, Steve

Happy Birthday to my DS, Steve! This picture was taken in Aug '04 in Germany. I was there to visit him, and was fortunate enough to pin him for promotion to Specialist. He's presently deployed to Iraq for the second time. He was there for his 21st and now 23rd birthday.

Busy day...

Well, today was one of those days when you think, "Can I squeeze one more thing into the day?" Got home from work at 12:45, walked Penny. Headed to the bowling alley to pre-bowl next week's games at 1p.m. (I'm going out of town for most of next week and a teammate has company coming so we arranged to bowl early), got out of there at 2:45. Came home and picked up Penny for a trip to the vet-- she's got another ear infection. -- got home from there at 4:15, walked her quick, then headed to Carlos O'Kelly's at 4:30 to meet with the round robin group to make our first exchange (and eat, of course!!). Walked in the door at 6p.m. This is my Penny...she's much cuter in real life, just not very photogenic!

Of penguins and kitty cats...

For Tonya
These were the table decorations for DD's wedding. I got them at the Dollar Tree, removed the scarves and knit hats they were wearing and added a ribbon bowtie for the boys and a veil and necklace for the girls. They're glued to popsicle sticks to give them a little more stability. John calls Sharyn his little penquin, so that's the theme we went with.
The sweet little kitty is Tanya. She was named by my DD Elena, for her best friend in the orphanage in Russia. Tanya usually sleeps behind my knees or against my tummy. (Wiley's not allowed in our room at night because he likes to pounce on toes in the middle of the night!)

Mended Hearts

My dear sister-friend was making a mended hearts quilt for a friend who was going thru a very difficult time. She asked a group of us to make as many as we wanted and send them to her for the quilt...these were my contribution.

Stash building bonanza!

I know there are a good many of you working on NOT adding to your stash, but that's exactly what I did today! There's a quilt shop about 15 miles from me that is going out of business due to family circumstances. All the fabrics are 50% off this week and 75% off next week. If I work every day this week I'll go back, but I already got the ones I really like. Anyway, if you're in the Fredericksburg, VA area in the next week or so, stop at Quilter's Heaven.

Wild n' wacky patches...

Here's a dose of my preferred color palette...bright and wild!
And, what's wrong with this picture??? There's no cat on the quilt!! The Beautiful Boy above is Wiley. He is the king of the castle; the only one "allowed" on the table (in other words, I haven't figured out a way to make him stay off of it!!)

I got the maverick in me..

Several years ago, I took a class at our guild's quilt-in. It was a very simple concept: start with a 12 1/2" square and layer torn 9", 6", and 3" squares on top, centering each or putting them on point, as in the picture on the right. The instructor's sample quilt was beautiful -- perfectly coordinated flannels with fussy cut center squares portraying various Huck Finn scenes. Well, that lasted about three squares' worth for me!! I started playing around and ended up with more squares looking like the one above. I'll post a picture of the top once blogger let's me! It will be for my youngest niece (who caught the bouquet at the wedding!)

And while I'm at it...

Here's a picture of me, taken in December '04 when I was skinny...well, about as skinny as I ever expect to be again! I gained almost 20 lbs in '05, so I guess I need to work on that this year, too. (I have some really nice chocolates from Christmas to work thru first -- can't let them go to waste...ok so they'll go to waist!)

Special Quilt, Special Dog

This quilt was made as a wedding gift for my oldest son in 2001. I made it with the mother of the bride. Unfortunately, the marriage was short-lived, and I ended up with the quilt. I really didn't know what to do with it -- eventually I decided that the quilt would be used to wrap Brandy up with love when she passed on, and that time came at the beginning of December. She was 16 years old, the first dog I ever had, and a special part of our family.

Wedding pic

Hubby was showing me how to add pictures to my blog, and the picture that got sent before I posted is of my lovely DD and SIL. They left today, back to CA. Their two weeks home sure went by quickly, especially with all the prep that went into the wedding. It was worth it!!

That Little Quilt Shop...

Yesterday, I went on a little trip to Madison, VA to "That Little Quilt Shop". What a neat place! It's a former church, wood floors, high ceilings, just lots of charm-- and the quilts! and the fabrics!! Too much inspiration! And lovely ladies that work there! I was with the two friends who are on the block of the month committee with me, and we all had a great time and found some wonderful fabrics. (DH got me set up for pics, so, hopefully next time I can do it by myself!)

Sharyn and John wedding 

Confession...

I'm a QuiltMaverick's junkie!! I confess to lurking for several months now, and I'm so inspired by these ladies. I can't wait to have a sewing room in some kind of order to get started on some of the quilts they've been posting. First on my list will be a Pineapple Blossom from stash! And I MUST finish my niece/nephew quilts (a total of 5 quilts, presently inf various stages of completion). If I complete no other UFO's this year than these I'll be happy!
Hubby was home early yesterday for a doctor's appointment, but I didn't get a chance to have him set me up and show me how to do pictures... maybe tonight.

Happy New Year!

It's the day after DD's formal wedding; everthing was wonderful and I hope they will always look back on the day with happy memories! She was gorgeous and so grown up looking-- made me cry! My DH sang "When you say you love me" by Josh Groban and that made me cry too! And I must say their kiss was perfect-- just the right amount of time, just the right amount of passion--very sweet! Today (Jan 1st) is actually their first anniversary; they had a civil ceremony last year so that our sons would be present (one is in Special Forces training and one is in Iraq for the second time). The weather cooperated and everyone that RSVP'd to attend was there, coming from far and wide -AL, PA, MA, RI, NY, NC, SC. It really was a special day, but I'm glad to get back to "normal".
Quilting goal for this week: select and prep fabrics for a special project and decide which fabrics to use for a round robin. This RR will involve making three blocks out of the fabrics that each participant has selected for themselves, so we'll end up with 24 blocks for a sampler quilt. I also need to mail a different RR to the next person.